HomeAnswersNeurologyalsI am a 37-year-old male weighing 435 lbs, and I often have twitching in my face and my body. Is it due to ALS?

Can facial and bodily twitching be due to ALS?

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Published At December 26, 2023
Reviewed AtDecember 26, 2023

Patient's Query

Hello doctor,

I am a 37-year-old male weighing 435 lbs. My height is 5 feet 10 inches. I have a severe issue I am dealing with and need help. It has been more than a year since this has started. It began with facial twitching, then moved on to full body twitching, and it began shortly after I got COVID-19. I searched on the web what this could be, and of course, it led me straight to ALS. Now, the descriptions for this disease are very vague, with no timeline, no exact test, just muscle weakness and fasciculations. This has led me down a dark path of mental destruction for the past 20 months. Over the last 90 days, I have had this weird symptom that appeared, which feels like a vibration inside the body, more on the left side, but it feels as if my bones are vibrating. This comes and goes, especially prevalent when I just wake up. I do not exactly know or understand what clinical weakness means. But in your context, I work on my feet ten hours a day, five days a week. I bought grip strength tools that apply 200 lbs of force and can fully close them with my grip on both hands. However, if I hold my phone up for two minutes, I feel my hands begin to cramp up, or my shoulders begin to burn or fatigue. This has been going on for the entire 20 months. I have gone to my PC physicians, and they do blood work and say I do not have anything to worry about but just lose weight, and it drives me nuts. About 100 days ago, I started getting twitching in my mid-abdomen section, it used to come and go but now it is almost happening all day long. I still get random fireworks in my thighs, thumbs, biceps, neck, face, etc. I am extremely depressed and scared that this is an early ALS situation, and I do not know what to do. Do you think this could be that? What should I specifically look for? What can I do to make this better? I am literally losing my mind. After how much time of this do I know that I am in the clear and this is just BFS? Please help.

Answered by Dr. Aida Abaz Quka

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I understand your concern and would explain that sensory symptoms like vibration are not a sign of ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), which is a pure motor disorder. As there is no muscle weakness, there is no reason to panic. However, I suggest performing nerve conduction studies in order to exclude possible neuropathy and a cervical spine MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) to exclude a possible bulging disc in the cervical vertebral column, which could lead to this clinical situation. I think that ALS is less probable, considering your description of the symptoms. As you can perform your daily tasks without weakness, nothing serious seems to be going on. So, please try not to worry about it.

Hope you will find this information helpful.

I remain at your disposal in case of further questions whenever you need me.

Kind regards.

Same symptoms don't mean you have the same problem. Consult a doctor now!

Dr. Aida Abaz Quka
Dr. Aida Abaz Quka

Neurology

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